Real Madrid News
Bellingham rejected five English clubs, including Man City, Arsenal, to join Real Madrid
Borussia Dortmund announced the departure of Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid yesterday, in what was a major milestone for the club heading into the summer transfer window.
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder has signed a six-year contract with Los Blancos, who are set to pay €103 million for his services. Bellingham will undoubtedly be Real Madrid’s marquee signing for the season ahead, but signing the Englishman was not easy by any means.
According to Jose Luis Sanchez, Bellingham had knocked back a series of Premier League clubs before signing for Real Madrid. The Spanish journalist points out Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Chelsea as the list of clubs Bellingham had turned down.
These are essentially the five of the ‘Big Six’ clubs in the Premier League, which goes on to show how much Bellingham wanted to be a part of the Real Madrid project.
It must be noted that joining Man City could have been an easy way out for Bellingham, especially with the chance to reunite with former Dortmund teammate and close friend Erling Haaland. But the youngster had no intention of joining an ‘oil club’.
Liverpool were touted as another potential destination for the former Birmingham City starlet. But the player ultimately opted for a move to Real Madrid, where he could become the face of the club’s midfield unit in the years to come.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are not expected to hold back in the summer transfer window even after securing Bellingham. The club might go after a new striker, after freshly losing Karim Benzema on a free transfer to Al-Ittihad.
Reports suggest Real Madrid could end up investing around €300-400 million in the market this summer. That implies Bellingham will just be the start of a busy summer ahead, as the club look to significantly strengthen their squad ahead of the new season.
There just does not appear to be any respite from injuries for Real Madrid.
Just when it appeared that they were close to having their full squad – barring the two long-term absentees – the Merengues have been struck down by fresh injuries this week.
Arda Guler, who was on the cusp of being named in the squad for the Las Palmas clash, injured himself in training on Tuesday.
And now, during the game against Las Palmas at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid have lost key defender David Alaba to an injury.
Close to the 40th-minute mark, Alaba went down on the ground clutching his leg and appeared to be in quite a bit of discomfort.
Soon enough, the medical staff arrived to take a look at the Austrian and seconds later he was off the pitch and straight towards the tunnel.
Lucas Vazquez came on to replace the injured Alaba, with Nacho Fernandez moving into the centre-back position alongside Antonio Rudiger.
Alaba’s injury leaves Carlo Ancelotti with just two fit centre-backs in Rudiger and Nacho, which is set to be a matter of great concern.
The hope will be that Alaba’s condition is nothing serious and that he is able to mount a quick recovery.
